a strange species,” he muttered. Holding out a pair of breathing masks, he gestured forward, ordering the bot to lead the Earthlings down into the cargo hold where they would be stored.
The Patrolman
Lissa stared around at the two captive boys in their cells. Each of them stepped up to the glass and stared back.
“Um, okay,” she said nervously, “I’m thinking we should get out of here somehow.”
She wasn’t certain they could hear her through the glass, but the African boy nodded urgently and pointed at the hatchway that led to his cell. Lissa started toward it, “I don’t know how to open this,” she told him. She inspected the edges of the hatchway but could find no handle.
The boy spoke, but no words reached her through the glass wall.
Stephanie followed behind her and reached out to the small black button panel beside the hatch. Her finger hovered over one of the buttons, but he shook his head and jabbed left until she touched the next one over. He nodded. She pressed it, and the hatchway hissed open, releasing the atmosphere seal with a rush of air.
Lissa cried, “Oh no!” Remembering too late the apparatus she wore over her mouth that served as a breath-mask. There was no Earth atmosphere in the corridor.
The boy quickly seemed to notice his mistake. He grabbed for the door and tried to close it again, but it was too heavy and refused to seal despite his straining. The air pressure inside continued hissing out. The boy started to gasp in the remaining thin air.
“Help me!” Stephanie cried. She pushed on the door, straining with the effort to close it.
Lissa joined her, shoving her shoulder against the edge to try and lever it back into place. It moved a fraction but still air hissed out. The pressure of the atmosphere releasing into the hallway was adding to the difficulty, she realized.
Inside, the air was becoming thin. The boy left off pulling on the door. He was gasping for air. As Lissa watched, her feet scrambling on the smooth floor for purchase, he fell to his knees.
A slim black hand reached from behind them and pressed against the door. Startled, Lissa glanced back and a strange sight met her eyes—a tall black girl with white stripes painted across her chest and cheeks stood above them, her strong bare arms helping to push the heavy metal door. Together, the three of them shoved against the hatch until it clicked shut. The moment the atmosphere seal locked, there was a second hiss and the boy began to rouse as Earth air once again circulated inside.
The newcomer wore a breathing mask similar to theirs, and odd pieces of body armor identical to that worn by Captain Nask. She was taller than Lissa or Stephanie, her skin, hair and eyes the deep black of African native tribes and when she spoke it was in a language the girls didn’t recognize. The bot translated for them.
“He will be alright,” the newcomer nodded toward the boy, “we need to find more masks before we can let them out.”
“Who are you?” Lissa asked. The girl looked very alike to the boy in the cell. Lissa thought she looked older than the two of them but not more than fifteen or so. She also noticed with embarrassment that the other girl had no clothing above the waist.
“I am Shika, of the Mursi People,” she gave a small head bow, “The boy enslaved there is my little brother, Ash.”
“So this really is a slave ship?” Stephanie asked, shivering.
“Yes,” Shika told her, “My brother was taken from our tribe. I snuck aboard before takeoff to rescue him but then I fainted when they drained the atmosphere. This creature saved me.”
From behind her hopped what looked like a short fluffy ball with two eyestalks and large three-toed feet. It was covered all over by bright pink fur, and its large black eyes stared expressively at Lissa. It had no mouth to smile with, but she got the impression it was doing so by the excited way it hopped up and down and rubbed her leg affectionately with one eyestalk like a sort of alien cat.
“I named her Lollipop,” Shika said fondly, giving the creature a soft scratch between the eyes, “She rescued me by dragging a breathing mask over to where I had fallen, and somehow managed to get it on my face.”
“Cute,” Lissa declared. She gave Lollipop a soft rub and the two eyes closed in happiness, “We should see if we can find more of these breathing things, though. Otherwise, he can’t get out.” she gestured to Ash, still trapped behind the glass wall. Shika nodded her assent.
The three girls looked around. The left wall was all glass cells, backed straight up against the wooden hull of the ship. No help there. Lissa inspected the right-hand wall. It was lined with hatchways that must lead deeper into the ship, she supposed, and just before the first one was a panel with alien lettering.
“What’s in there?” she mused, pointing. Scooting over to the panel she fumbled with the latch.
It opened with a small pop and her eyes fell on rows of breathing masks. Shika took one and showed them all the on-switch. She chattered something to Ash in their native tongue and mimed covering her mouth. Although he could not possibly have heard her, the boy nodded.
Shika then reached over and pressed the button on the black panel by his cell. The hiss came again as the atmosphere seal released air into the corridor, and this time the boy inside held his breath tightly. Now, Shika gestured to Lissa, who darted inside the hatch and helped Ash don the breathing apparatus. Once it was secured and they had both stepped out of the cell, Lissa said, “It’s nice to meet you.”
He extended a hand and said in English, albeit with a heavy accent, “You too. Thanks for getting me out of there.”
“You speak English!” Lissa was surprised.
“Only a little, and Shika speaks none at all,” Ash told her, shrugging, “We’re from Ethiopia, did she tell you? But I studied at University.”
He grabbed his sister by the arm the moment she came within reach and hugged her tightly. They chattered in Ethiopian for a moment. Lissa marveled at how the little bot, which was still hovering by her side, somehow knew not to translate this conversation, for she heard nothing but the two siblings’ voices.
Finally, Shika turned to Lissa and said, “I heard much of what Captain Nask told you, while I was hiding behind the doorway there,” she pointed, “Somehow the understanding of their words came into my head. I think it was Lollipop,” she patted the pink alien affectionately.
“Really?” Lissa was skeptical.
“She must be telepathic,” Ash commented, as though this was something he saw every day.
“That’s...highly unlikely,” Lissa pointed out.
“I believe it is true,” Shika insisted. Her hand lay protectively across Lollipop’s round body.
“Come on Lissa,” Stephanie urged, “How likely was any of this? We just got kidnapped by aliens, for Google’s sake. Now you’re gonna disbelieve telepathy?”
Lissa rolled her eyes, but knelt down until she faced Lollipop directly. She smiled at the little fur ball, “Can you understand me?”
No words came, but a funny feeling of happiness washed over her as though someone had suddenly bathed her mind in warmth.
“Whoa, that’s weird,” she reeled back. Lollipop hopped once to get her attention, and then two pictures flashed in Lissa’s mind—Captain Nask stunning Ash with a blast of his ray pistol, and then another of Shika kneeling to the floor in near-suffocation. Sorrow and an urgency to help filled her heart, and Lissa realized she was seeing and feeling what Lollipop had seen of the siblings’ capture.
“She and I overheard several conversations between the crew while I was looking for a way to rescue Ash and escape,” Shika said, “That is how I discovered that this is a slave ship. They have a contract with somebody to pick up “specimens” from Earth for possible sale on other worlds.”